Many of you thought the words I used to describe Trump were too harsh. Maybe you were right. However, his aides and associates reached the exact same conclusions that I did.
Trump has gone nuclear. Fortunately, it is against his alter ego Bannon, not the little North Korean Trump. We have a new nickname:
I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don’t exist. Look at this guy’s past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!
So, Donald Trump, our Name Caller in Chief, calls Bannon "Sloppy Steve." May I just say that, when I look at Trump, I don't exactly see a picture of David Niven-like neatness?
I always valued people such as Yuval (not that there are many). But I value them all the more now because they remind you what conservatism really is, when everything is all fogged up. (I did not mean for that to sound vulgar — but so be it.) https://t.co/0ksN6ZD5vK
Ricky @8:15, I can not believe that a credible newspaper would headline an article in that way. But that is precisely the sort of ignorant foolishness that prompted me to cancel my subscription. Thanks for quashing my temptation to renew it. ;–)
Debra, I think the headline is a fair summary of the article which is itself a fair summary of the excerpts from the book which will turn out to be a fair summary of the hundreds of hours of interviews (many of them taped) Wolff conducted with numerous White House aides.
I read the Levin piece @8:27. Some of his concerns may be valid, but I think a larger part of the problem is that employees of the executive branch have been encouraged by all parties to believe that they can legitimately work against the President to thwart his goals. Judiciary over-reach and a placid legislature, amplified by an explosively hostile media, have given them cover in this misguided belief.
Trump is not here to stay, and when he is gone the damage will be more apparent. Levin mentions in passing, and many others have emphasized, that there will be a high price to be paid when this is all over. They are right. But Conservative Never-Trumpers have fooled themselves into thinking that it’s someone else who is racking up all the bill, rather than their own poisoned pens and tongues.
There’s no doubt many have ruined much of their credibility by fawning over Trump inappropriately. But too many in the conservative media (they’re all over Twitter) have been content to emulate pigs rooting around the ground for rotten apples, rather than standing upright like men to reach high in the branches for a firm, ripe fruit.
Conservatives are not just being changed; they’re being revealed. Some of what is being revealed is ugly. But it’s also an opportunity. People like Rusty Reno at First Things and American Affairs Journal are both level-headed and self-possessed enough to envision a Conservatism that does not look like New World Order vulture-capitalism. The sooner that talented Conservative writers (like Williamson and so many others) stop wallowing in the muck, the better.
Tychicus @9:08 I have a theory about the stock market bubble. There is so much money in so few hands, they cannot sufficiently diversify, so they are putting it all in the market. It’s their savings account. There is no other rational reason for a $1000+ Amazon share when the company has performed so abysmally over the past 20+ years. But it’s propped up with enough money, it can remain stable—until the next big glitch brings it all down.
There is one way the “Rulers” can handle all that national debt, inflation! Why do you suppose our “Dear Rulers” came up with $15 an hour minimum wage? They just cut our national debt by half. The stock market is just reflecting the new minimum wage. Most economists don’t think the minimum wage is good for the economy.
I can see calling Trump an idiot. A couple times. Here or there. I’m sure I called him that. After repeating the assessment daily, and not-so-subtly attaching the same sentiment to folks who support some of his stuff, it becomes…how to say…rude. Trump is an idiot. OK, we’ve established that’s what we think of him. He also doesn’t appear to be in favor of killing partially born babies. There isn’t a president who has served since at least Reagan (and possibly including him), nor a candidate who ran last year about which it couldn’t have been said that we have to take the considerable bad with the good.
But there’s something particularly depraved about the killing half-born babies thing.
Gossip mongering is not news. And this is why rushing to judgement is such a bad idea and reduces the credibility of journalists and their publishers…:
The author of the explosive new book about Donald Trump’s presidency acknowledged in an author’s note that he wasn’t certain all of its content was true.
Michael Wolff, the author of “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” included a note at the start that casts significant doubt on the reliability of the specifics contained in the rest of its pages.
Several of his sources, he says, were definitely lying to him, while some offered accounts that flatly contradicted those of others.
But some were nonetheless included in the vivid account of the West Wing’s workings….
My work here is pretty well done. Two years ago I thought: Some of these sincere, but politically naive, Christians are being taken in by this ridiculous, but effective, reprobate and con man. At this point anyone who desires to see the truth can figure it out on their own pretty easily. If not, they can read Mr. Mueller’s upcoming report and the myriad of copy-cat books that are sure to follow Mr. Wolff’s interesting effort.
Basically, what Sessions is doing is walking back an Obama fiat and asking people to obey the law–sort of like what they’re asking of the sanctuary city folks.
Many of us here are happy the marijuana people are feeling some squeeze; we don’t want to live in a community where marijuana usages is frequent. We were outvoted because so many people went pragmatic: “Why not reap the taxes from the underground economy?”
Ricky, Whether he’s a con man or not, he managed to raise the issues that needed to be discussed when no one else was willing to do so. Those issues will not go away just because Trump leaves the Oval Office. And no amount of wishing, hoping, or cursing under the breath will change the reality that so many people live with, so the conversations still need to happen. PerhapsTrump doesn’t need to be the centerpiece of them.
This is the conclusion of an article in First Things that offers a rather unique and dispassionate examination of Evangelical behavior in supporting Trump. I found his categorization of Evangelicals into 3 distinct groups a bit off, but interesting, and the conclusion, a little sad. I think we must be kinder to each other.
Trump’s candidacy and presidency have bitterly divided not just Jacksonian, Tocquevillian, and elite evangelicals, but evangelicals of all stripes, all of whom continue to address each other in harsh tones and with dismissive rhetoric. It is curious to see communities formed by grace show so little of it toward fellow believers. Given their theological kinship and belief in a transcendent and knowable moral order, evangelicals have deep resources for modelling sound deliberation about the common good. Yet deliberation can take place only if evangelicals grant each other room to exercise the core political virtue of prudence. Prudence will not lead all believers down the same political path, but it is best demonstrated in deliberation rather than in incrimination and excommunication.
Michelle @1:28 I think Sessions should put federal attention where it is most needed, and I don’t think pot is it. I tend to think the inner-state home use and growth of pot should be left to the states–particularly as it relates to medicinal use. Of course, I would have chosen to leave most of the current hot button issues to the states–including abortion. But we have not gone in that direction, and the direction we have chosen will eventually include universal healthcare of some kind. I only bring that up because I think drug issues will impact healthcare, and so deserve to be considered in that light, rather than being a notch on the belt of the DOJ—or as tax revenue for unionized government workers (a pet peeve of mine).
I realize that this is not as theoretical a discussion for you as it is for me. I was again reminded of just how different the states are when Bob Buckles @ 11:47 mentioned the $15 minimum wage. I realized how easy it is to forget that not all states are having the same issues right now. We don’t have any minimum wage in TN, so the fed. wage of $7.25 applies. And we don’t allow operational deficits, so we have no pressure from government unions. We have other problems that we’re working on: low education, low wages, meth…. There’s always something. :–/
Marijuana is not the innocent recreational drug so many think it is. It can land you in the hospital, vomiting, dehydrated, and 99 pounds.
It can also cost your parents some hefty co-pays. Thank goodness the stepmother works for an insurance company and has premium insurance.
I think the libel was in reference to the story @12:47, where Wolff admits that some of his sources were definitely lying, but he basically chose to include them anyway.
Although a procedural hiccup ultimately killed the provision, the vote put every single Democrat in the Senate on record of opposing a tax break for homeschoolers, Estrada said. That squelches hope for getting the measure passed anytime in the near future. Rep. Luke Messer, R-Ind., plans to submit a bill in the House, something he’s done every year, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has offered to sponsor a measure in the upper chamber. But getting something passed will be a “tough row to hoe,” Estrada said, mostly because of the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.
“Two Republican senators have made the first known criminal referral in congressional investigations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, targeting the author of a dossier of allegations about President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Friday they had referred former British spy Christopher Steele to the Justice Department for investigation about false statements he may have made to the government. Graham is the chairman of a Judiciary subcommittee that is investigating the Russian meddling.
The referral comes after Republicans in Congress have made several attempts in recent weeks to undermine the credibility of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, the Justice Department and the FBI, charging there is anti-Trump bias within the ranks of federal agents and prosecutors.
In a cover letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray released by the committee, the senators say the referral relates to “certain communications between Christopher Steele and multiple U.S. news outlets regarding the so-called ‘Trump dossier.'” The rest of the referral is classified and was not released.”
“Friday, the internet granted us a fabulous piece of “fooled ya” lore: a fake excerpt from Michale Wolff’s “Fire and Fury”, the book that sparked the flame war between now ostracized former White House aide Steve Bannon and President Trump.
A clever fellow created a fake excerpt from “Fire and Furry” explaining how Trump demanded his own personal gorilla channel, which he watched for 17 hours on end.
— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) January 5, 2018
Regardless of your thoughts about Trump, the parody is hilarious and is obviously a joke…buuuuut, not everyone got the joke.”
——————–
It’s then filled with Tweets from people who fell for it. Since then many have deleted them, once they were laughed at for it, but the internet is forever. 🙂
Kevin D. Williamson was in the newspaper business a long time. He knows a little about libel.
Well done, @KevinNR (duh). You will remember what Bill Buckley said when Gore Vidal accused him of lying about him: “Anyone who LIES about Vidal is doing him a favor.” Heh. (That was SO Bill.) https://t.co/R9EL8Z1WN4 via @NRO
To further elaborate, if Trump sued Wolff and his publisher there would be a great deal of discovery (including depositions). Does Trump really want each of his top aides to be asked under oath if they ever called him an “idiot” or a “moron”?
Wandering Views 
Dreher talks about the hot topic of the day. The article has a link to an excerpt from the book.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/mr-trump-he-crazy-michael-wolff/
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Many of you thought the words I used to describe Trump were too harsh. Maybe you were right. However, his aides and associates reached the exact same conclusions that I did.
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Trump has gone nuclear. Fortunately, it is against his alter ego Bannon, not the little North Korean Trump. We have a new nickname:
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Jay Nordlinger on the new nickname:
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Yuval Levin raises a serious point:
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Ricky @8:15, I can not believe that a credible newspaper would headline an article in that way. But that is precisely the sort of ignorant foolishness that prompted me to cancel my subscription. Thanks for quashing my temptation to renew it. ;–)
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Ricky, your TDS has gone into overdrive…
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Debra, I think the headline is a fair summary of the article which is itself a fair summary of the excerpts from the book which will turn out to be a fair summary of the hundreds of hours of interviews (many of them taped) Wolff conducted with numerous White House aides.
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Yesterday was the 90th record close of the DOW, with a new record 25,000.
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Goldberg makes the point that the few people who were paying attention already knew all this stuff.
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The Deputy DNC Chair comes out in support of ANTIFA, which clearly shows what direction the DNC is going… they want to continue the Obama era.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/01/03/dnc-deputy-chair-keith-ellison-signals-support-for-antifa.html
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I read the Levin piece @8:27. Some of his concerns may be valid, but I think a larger part of the problem is that employees of the executive branch have been encouraged by all parties to believe that they can legitimately work against the President to thwart his goals. Judiciary over-reach and a placid legislature, amplified by an explosively hostile media, have given them cover in this misguided belief.
Trump is not here to stay, and when he is gone the damage will be more apparent. Levin mentions in passing, and many others have emphasized, that there will be a high price to be paid when this is all over. They are right. But Conservative Never-Trumpers have fooled themselves into thinking that it’s someone else who is racking up all the bill, rather than their own poisoned pens and tongues.
There’s no doubt many have ruined much of their credibility by fawning over Trump inappropriately. But too many in the conservative media (they’re all over Twitter) have been content to emulate pigs rooting around the ground for rotten apples, rather than standing upright like men to reach high in the branches for a firm, ripe fruit.
Conservatives are not just being changed; they’re being revealed. Some of what is being revealed is ugly. But it’s also an opportunity. People like Rusty Reno at First Things and American Affairs Journal are both level-headed and self-possessed enough to envision a Conservatism that does not look like New World Order vulture-capitalism. The sooner that talented Conservative writers (like Williamson and so many others) stop wallowing in the muck, the better.
LikeLike
Tychicus @9:08 I have a theory about the stock market bubble. There is so much money in so few hands, they cannot sufficiently diversify, so they are putting it all in the market. It’s their savings account. There is no other rational reason for a $1000+ Amazon share when the company has performed so abysmally over the past 20+ years. But it’s propped up with enough money, it can remain stable—until the next big glitch brings it all down.
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Bumpersticker of the Day: Make America Grateful Again
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There is one way the “Rulers” can handle all that national debt, inflation! Why do you suppose our “Dear Rulers” came up with $15 an hour minimum wage? They just cut our national debt by half. The stock market is just reflecting the new minimum wage. Most economists don’t think the minimum wage is good for the economy.
It is all about the national debt!
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Maybe I’ll take a page from Trump’s book.
From now when I refer to Tabloid Ricky, you’ll know who I mean. 😉
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I can see calling Trump an idiot. A couple times. Here or there. I’m sure I called him that. After repeating the assessment daily, and not-so-subtly attaching the same sentiment to folks who support some of his stuff, it becomes…how to say…rude. Trump is an idiot. OK, we’ve established that’s what we think of him. He also doesn’t appear to be in favor of killing partially born babies. There isn’t a president who has served since at least Reagan (and possibly including him), nor a candidate who ran last year about which it couldn’t have been said that we have to take the considerable bad with the good.
But there’s something particularly depraved about the killing half-born babies thing.
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I’m not the least bit concerned about the national debt. Neither are the Republicans who just voted for permanent tax cuts.
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Gossip mongering is not news. And this is why rushing to judgement is such a bad idea and reduces the credibility of journalists and their publishers…:
http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-wolff-note-says-he-doesnt-know-if-trump-book-is-all-true-2018-1
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My work here is pretty well done. Two years ago I thought: Some of these sincere, but politically naive, Christians are being taken in by this ridiculous, but effective, reprobate and con man. At this point anyone who desires to see the truth can figure it out on their own pretty easily. If not, they can read Mr. Mueller’s upcoming report and the myriad of copy-cat books that are sure to follow Mr. Wolff’s interesting effort.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This story was headline news in my community today; here’s World’s take:
https://world.wng.org/content/justice_department_marijuana_shift_frustrates_states
Basically, what Sessions is doing is walking back an Obama fiat and asking people to obey the law–sort of like what they’re asking of the sanctuary city folks.
Many of us here are happy the marijuana people are feeling some squeeze; we don’t want to live in a community where marijuana usages is frequent. We were outvoted because so many people went pragmatic: “Why not reap the taxes from the underground economy?”
It always goes back to money.:-(
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ricky, Whether he’s a con man or not, he managed to raise the issues that needed to be discussed when no one else was willing to do so. Those issues will not go away just because Trump leaves the Oval Office. And no amount of wishing, hoping, or cursing under the breath will change the reality that so many people live with, so the conversations still need to happen. PerhapsTrump doesn’t need to be the centerpiece of them.
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Wolff’s comments, if true, just opened himself and his publisher to libel lawsuits.
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Have I missed conversation about Iran? How about this news: http://www.breakpoint.org/2018/01/breakpoint-the-iranian-protests-and-the-church/?utm_source=
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This is the conclusion of an article in First Things that offers a rather unique and dispassionate examination of Evangelical behavior in supporting Trump. I found his categorization of Evangelicals into 3 distinct groups a bit off, but interesting, and the conclusion, a little sad. I think we must be kinder to each other.
https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2018/01/donald-trump-and-the-evangelical-crisis
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Which is why politics doesn’t belong in the church. If it’s causing division, it is not of God and should be shelved. IMHO
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Michelle, you open yourself to libel if it is not true, not if it is . . . so I’m not sure what you are saying.
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I was thinking that’s probably what she meant to say, just inadvertently left out the “not.”
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Michelle @1:28 I think Sessions should put federal attention where it is most needed, and I don’t think pot is it. I tend to think the inner-state home use and growth of pot should be left to the states–particularly as it relates to medicinal use. Of course, I would have chosen to leave most of the current hot button issues to the states–including abortion. But we have not gone in that direction, and the direction we have chosen will eventually include universal healthcare of some kind. I only bring that up because I think drug issues will impact healthcare, and so deserve to be considered in that light, rather than being a notch on the belt of the DOJ—or as tax revenue for unionized government workers (a pet peeve of mine).
I realize that this is not as theoretical a discussion for you as it is for me. I was again reminded of just how different the states are when Bob Buckles @ 11:47 mentioned the $15 minimum wage. I realized how easy it is to forget that not all states are having the same issues right now. We don’t have any minimum wage in TN, so the fed. wage of $7.25 applies. And we don’t allow operational deficits, so we have no pressure from government unions. We have other problems that we’re working on: low education, low wages, meth…. There’s always something. :–/
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Marijuana is not the innocent recreational drug so many think it is. It can land you in the hospital, vomiting, dehydrated, and 99 pounds.
It can also cost your parents some hefty co-pays. Thank goodness the stepmother works for an insurance company and has premium insurance.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I think the libel was in reference to the story @12:47, where Wolff admits that some of his sources were definitely lying, but he basically chose to include them anyway.
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From “World” online;
Although a procedural hiccup ultimately killed the provision, the vote put every single Democrat in the Senate on record of opposing a tax break for homeschoolers, Estrada said. That squelches hope for getting the measure passed anytime in the near future. Rep. Luke Messer, R-Ind., plans to submit a bill in the House, something he’s done every year, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has offered to sponsor a measure in the upper chamber. But getting something passed will be a “tough row to hoe,” Estrada said, mostly because of the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.
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Now we’re getting somewhere.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/senators-criminal-referral-dossier-author-doj-191541235–politics.html
“Two Republican senators have made the first known criminal referral in congressional investigations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, targeting the author of a dossier of allegations about President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Friday they had referred former British spy Christopher Steele to the Justice Department for investigation about false statements he may have made to the government. Graham is the chairman of a Judiciary subcommittee that is investigating the Russian meddling.
The referral comes after Republicans in Congress have made several attempts in recent weeks to undermine the credibility of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, the Justice Department and the FBI, charging there is anti-Trump bias within the ranks of federal agents and prosecutors.
In a cover letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray released by the committee, the senators say the referral relates to “certain communications between Christopher Steele and multiple U.S. news outlets regarding the so-called ‘Trump dossier.'” The rest of the referral is classified and was not released.”
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Some people will believe anything. 🙂
https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/01/confirmed-trump-haters-will-believe-anything-gorilla-channel-edition/
“Friday, the internet granted us a fabulous piece of “fooled ya” lore: a fake excerpt from Michale Wolff’s “Fire and Fury”, the book that sparked the flame war between now ostracized former White House aide Steve Bannon and President Trump.
A clever fellow created a fake excerpt from “Fire and Furry” explaining how Trump demanded his own personal gorilla channel, which he watched for 17 hours on end.
Regardless of your thoughts about Trump, the parody is hilarious and is obviously a joke…buuuuut, not everyone got the joke.”
——————–
It’s then filled with Tweets from people who fell for it. Since then many have deleted them, once they were laughed at for it, but the internet is forever. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kevin D. Williamson was in the newspaper business a long time. He knows a little about libel.
To further elaborate, if Trump sued Wolff and his publisher there would be a great deal of discovery (including depositions). Does Trump really want each of his top aides to be asked under oath if they ever called him an “idiot” or a “moron”?
LikeLiked by 1 person